[bsuvc]

Interesting window into the history that likely shaped Microsoft's view of customers for decades since then.

I'd say MS still probably has that attitude baked into their company, treating customers as adversaries that need to be protected against.

They are definitely not known for their customer service, but they ARE known for their complex licensing and sometimes heavy-handed enforcement, that I guess maybe one could draw a line back to this as the source.

[ozim]

I’d say this letter is not that far from OSS maintainers that have quite often breakdowns because no one wants to pay and everyone wants bug fixes.

It is perfectly fine to want to be compensated for one’s work.

[Zambyte]

> I'd say MS still probably has that attitude baked into their company, treating customers as adversaries that need to be protected against.

This is true of every company that sells intellectual "property" instead of material objects or labor.

[spoonjim]

Microsoft has pretty good customer service for their best customers (S&P500 corporations).